Fireworks in Progress
by Red Okra
Summary: Jubilee muses about her friends, current and new, along with her feelings of being left behind.


If there was something that Jubilee looked forward to everyday of the week, it was the weekends. That was something typical for students, Jubilee believes, especially for students who dreaded school work, but for her, it's for an entirely different reason.

It's not that she hated studying; she loved to learn, actually, but the weekends are the only time for her to hang out fully with her friends. Sure, there are other students in the mansion, but it wasn't the same as being with Jean, Scott, and Kurt. Peter and Ororo were the new additions to their group too after the whole destruction incident, and Jubilee does not mind at all — the more the merrier, right? Plus, they were pretty cool in their own way.

But sometimes, she feels as if she doesn't belong anymore.

Ever since they were chosen as the X-men, she doesn't really have the chance to interact with them as much as before. Jubilee understands, really, but sometimes she gets pretty lonely too, especially after classes when they needed to go to their respective training sessions. It makes her appreciate even the little breaks in class, where they can talk about anything under the sun without any worries. Though usually their brief conversations will be about Scott's or Kurt's or Peter's complaints about the lesson until the professor returns again, bringing them back to their own seats. Again Jubilee doesn't mind. She cherishes the moments, either way.

As Mr. McCoy arrives at the study hall again to discuss their topic on physics, Jubilee accidentally drops her eraser on the floor, but before she manages to pick it up, it was already levitating in air, floating back safely to her arm rest. She looks at Jean sitting beside her, wordlessly giving her thanks, to which the other girl nods with a smile.

Jean has always fascinated her, somehow. Jubilee has been aware that Jean didn't have much friends, even if she had been staying at the mansion years before her. She also knows it wasn't just because of her introverted nature — Jubilee experienced firsthand how she shook the mansion with her powers, which startled her the first time, of course. Despite that, Jubilee still tried to reach out to her, although she wasn't very much successful — Jean seemed to prefer to isolate herself from people until both Kurt and Scott arrived, who managed to pull her out of the mansion for a trip to the mall. Sometimes she wonders what both boys possessed that she didn't. She also wishes she had Jean's strength to persist even when she was seemingly in isolation.

As she jots down the scientific terms on the board, she hears a collective series of muffled snickers from behind, and she glances back at the out of curiosity. She sees Kurt's toothy grin beneath his blue hands as he tries to conceal his giggles.

Jubilee is glad that Kurt somehow manages to adapt well to the mansion. She couldn't imagine how hard it must've been for him to be in a foreign land with apparent features that made him very distinct from the masses. But despite all the bad memories that he might have experienced in his past, he still appears eager to see the world in a much better color. Sometimes she wishes she possessed the optimism apparent in his eyes.

Beside Kurt, Scott is likewise in a fit of laughter, but is clearly trying hard not to burst into hysterics especially with Mr. McCoy discussing in front.

Jubilee finds Scott pretty cool, setting aside some of his brooding, angsty tendencies, which if she thinks about it, she couldn't blame him for, especially knowing the impact of his uncontrollable powers along with tragic incident involving his brother. In the end, Scott manages to move on, and sometimes she wishes she had his drive too. She thinks he'll be a great leader, some day.

After giving Scott a weird look, he finally points at what the whole fuss was all about, and she sees Peter dozing off at the back, his chin positioned under his hand to support the swaying weight of his head, which isn't actually pretty effective.

She considers Peter to be that cool older brother that she never had. His playful antics and overall light-heartedness were a welcome change to their angst-driven teenager group, and sometimes she even forgets that he was more or less a decade older than her. It's pretty hilarious to see him butt heads with Scott too. If the group ever decides to leave her behind (which she prays, doesn't, ever), she wishes that she'd still be as fun-loving as Peter is.

Beside him was Ororo, who was already poking him with a pencil to wake him up. Jubilee tries hard to suppress her laughter.

Like Kurt, she was a foreigner in their lands, and Jubilee was more than glad to show her their culture. Jubilee thinks Ororo has beautiful skin, though not all people, apparently. Jubilee knows the feeling. When she was young, her Asian heritage didn't actually give her a smooth walk in the path, either, setting aside that she was a mutant as well. But Ororo's stand was unyielding, strong, and confident, which was very admirable. Sometimes Jubilee wishes she had that too.

Soon, classes were over, and soon, Jubilee is smiling as she waves a hand towards her friends, who mention their 'see you later's' as they walk their way to the sub-basements where the training rooms were located.

She shifts her feet, clutching her notes in her arms as she makes her way back to the family room, where she could probably read books or watch television or something.

Sometimes she even thinks what could've happened if she had been in Cairo too, fighting alongside them, but Jubilee was never one for violence, and a morbid thought creeps in her mind that she might not have what it takes to actually survive that battle. She couldn't imagine what horrors her friends might have experienced in being in an actual battlefield.

She was not like Kurt, who owned the ability to teleport away from any situation, nor she was like Peter, who could pretty much manipulate time and probably dash away in any sort of place. She was not like Scott, either, who had powerful beams radiating from his eyes to defend himself, nor was she like Jean, who, aside from her powerful mind, possessed something beyond her control, which Jubilee knew could likewise defend her in some way.

Unlike her friends, she was simply. . . _mediocre_. Her powers paled in comparison to them. Sometimes she wishes she also possessed something as powerful as theirs, yet sometimes, she feels scared too, thinking it might be best just to appear normal. Because she knew there's always a price to pay when you possess something great.

There was Scott, who had to worry about the destructive effects of his beams, while Jean about her constant night terrors. At the same time, Peter suffers from impatience of living in a universe too slow for him, while Kurt had to live in the world that judges him just from his physical appearance. Similarly, Ororo obtained powerful abilities to manipulate the weather and similar elements, but with it came the price of living in guilt out of her own naivety, siding with forces that might've caused the destruction of the world.

Sometimes, she wishes she could've been born a simple, normal girl without any powers. Yet she wasn't, and she realizes that she really did not want it any other way.

On that day, she vowed to push herself further to her limits, in her own pace, in her little way. Someday she'll even get one of those snazzy uniforms she caught them wearing when she made one curious trip to the sub-basements. Someday, she'll shine even brighter than the fireworks she materializes from her hands.

She'll get there too, someday.


End file.
